Valve suspends Counter-Strike co-creator after arrest for sexual exploitation of a child

Valve has suspended Counter-Strike co-creator Jess Cliffe following his arrest and subsequent booking for sexual exploitation of a child.

Seattle-based KIRO 7 reports that Cliffe was arrested by Seattle police on Thursday morning, though the publication notes that he had not been formally charged with a crime at the time of his booking.

Valve later announced that it had suspended Cliffe after the news broke. The company told Gamasutra that it is still “learning details of what actually happened" but that "reports suggest he has been arrested for a felony offense."

A representative from Valve confirmed that the company has suspended Cliffe’s employment until it has more information.

Cliffe co-created Counter-Strike alongside Minh Le as a mod for Valve’s Half-Life while in college and Valve purchased the rights to the resulting game in 2000. Cliffe joined up with the studio after graduating from college in 2003 and has been with Valve since, working on titles like Left 4 Dead 2 and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.